A Look Into Recent Resignations In The State’s Attorney’s Office

CHICAGO (CBS)– Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx ran on a platform of reform, but several of those key reformers left the office in recent months.

Foxx campaigned and won on an ambitious platform of change that included reducing overcharging offenders, increasing transparency and advancing bail reform.

In 2016, she took over an office with a nearly $150 million budget and about 1,100 employees.

Within a year, she started delivering results.

Foxx said the conviction integrity unit has seen a 500 % increase in requests for review.

But a former high-level official in the State’s Attorney’s Office told CBS 2 that about a year ago, the resignations started rolling in; in many cases, for better opportunities or personal reasons.

The First Assistant State’s Attorney, the head of Special Prosecutions Bureau, Chief Policy Officer, a Senior Advisor, and a Deputy Policy Advisor all left within the last year.

The source told CBS 2 the recent job postings, suggest others might be putting in their notice as well.

CBS2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller told CBS 2 these top positions usually change from one State’s Attorney to another, not mid-tenure.

So where does that leave Foxx’s reform agenda?

“I dont think her goals going to change,” Miller said. “That is her policy she set it during the campaign she instituted it as states attorney and either these assistant states attorneys are going to go with it or they’re going to get a new job.”

The State’s Attorney’s Office confirmed Foxx’s chief ethics officer, April Perry, and Mark Rotert, who leads the office’s Conviction Integrity Unit, will be leaving next month.

“I am profoundly grateful for Mark’s work to make the Cook County Conviction Integrity Unit a national model,” Foxx said. “Under his tenure, we have vacated the convictions of over 70 wrongfully convicted men and women. We have created national standards and protocols for reviewing past convictions. The people of Cook County have been well served by his leadership and he has well earned his retirement.”

“I am also grateful for April Perry’s tenure as the first ever Chief Ethics Officer for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office,” Foxx continued. “She has been a valuable resource to the office in ensuring that we operate with the highest levels of integrity and professionalism. I wish her well in her new endeavors.”